Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was married to Elizabeth II for more than 70 years. In April of last year, he died after having an eventful life.
Despite being in the spotlight for years, there are still many things we don’t know about him.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 6 things you probably don’t know about Prince Philip.
1 — Prince Philip Was The Prince Of Greece And Denmark
Before becoming the Duke of Edinburgh, the young Philip was Prince of Greece and Denmark, the nephew of the Greek monarch, and was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921, before becoming the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947.
He was not a citizen of the United Kingdom, even though his ancestors came from a variety of nations, including Germany and England.
2 — Prince Philip Was Related To The Nazis
His elder sisters didn’t simply get married; they got married to Nazis, which is a fact that Queen Elizabeth is unlikely to want the public to know about at this point.
An aircraft disaster in 1937 claimed the lives of Philip’s sister Cecile and her husband, both Nazi party members.
Philip was flown to Germany for the burial, where he was forced to walk alongside Nazi troops in the parade. Philip’s sisters were not invited to his wedding in 1947, but the royal couple reconnected with Philip’s German relatives when they visited Germany in 2015.
Although Prince Philip can’t control his ancestors, he did serve in the Royal Navy during World War II.
3 — Prince Philip Met The Queen When She Was 13 Years Old
During the wedding of his cousin Princess Marina of Greece to the Duke of Kent in 1934, the Prince and Queen first met. He was 18 at the time and she was 13.
He had recently completed his training as a cadet in the Royal Navy and was scheduled to depart soon after.
Through letters sent to one other over many years, the future couple maintained their relationship, and on November 20, 1947, they were married.
4 — Elizabeth’s Father Didn’t Like Philip
The marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip has endured the test of time since the couple has been married for more than seven decades at this point.
Their love story seems to be something out of a fairy tale, but things were tough for the couple in the beginning since the royal family did not approve of their relationship with one other.
The match was heavily criticized by King George VI, who expressed extreme disapproval.
George VI was profoundly concerned about how British public opinion would react to a Greek Prince marrying an English princess as the heir presumptive.
5 — Elizabeth and Prince Philip Were Related
There are no doubts about it: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are connected in some way.
Even though Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were first cousins, marriages between cousins are something the Queen undoubtedly wishes to minimize these days.
The relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip isn’t exactly as tight as it might be, but they are third cousins since they are both great-great-grandchildren of Victoria and Albert themselves.
6 — Philip Wanted His Kids To Have His Last Name
Prince Philip was enraged that his children wouldn’t even be able to adapt his last name — or, more specifically, that Queen Elizabeth would not allow it because she intended to maintain the House of Windsor name after their marriage.
“I am the only guy in the nation who is not permitted to give his children their name,” he is supposed to have said.
In 1960, the couple agreed that, although the royal family would retain the name Windsor, their descendants, should they need a last name, would be known as Mountbatten-Windsor, rather than Windsor.